This Looks Like the First Photo of a Fully Working iPad Mini

Knowing the accuracy of the iPhone 5 leaks and the increased number of photos of the 7.8-inch iPad parts from the same sources, I have almost no doubt that this is a real, fully working Apple iPad mini. That means that the launch must be really close right now.

The Chinese site Bolopad claims that these are exclusive shots of the real McCoy. Looking at past evidence, I'm afraid that we will just have to take their word on that. It looks like all the other parts we have seen before: the holy daughter of a virgin iPad and the original JesusPhone.

I have to admit that I'm starting to think that all these leaks can't be just a coincidence. The iPhone 5 was the most broadly leaked product in Apple's history. The new iPad mini is going to be the next. It almost feels like Apple is letting these products out of the factories to control market expectations and backlash from the press and consumers. Or perhaps Foxconn's workers are getting smarter at smuggling them out the factory. Or things have gotten so massive that it's impossible to control.

But I have the feeling that this is a new page from Tim Cook's book, who in public vowed for new heights of secrecy, but may have found a way to successfully neutralise negative opinions on an increasingly beige product line by allowing people an advanced look.